Response from the Passport Office in the Ministry of National Security on False and Malicious Stories in the Public Domain
The Passport Office in the Ministry of National Security has been made aware of stories circulating in the public domain, on broadcast media and in social media implying inter alia questionable issuance of passports. The Ministry wishes to make it pellucidly clear that the stories are false, unfounded and malicious. Furthermore, persons responsible for creating and spreading such stories are clearly hostile to the best interests of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The issuance of passports in St. Kitts and Nevis is a controlled process with a number of independent stages, each requiring its own independent verification and certification process. Our procedures are compliant with the international standards to ensure the integrity and the continued confidence in our travel document.
It is clear that the persons spreading this information on broadcast media and social media are either unaware of the inner mechanisms of the process of passport production from application to delivery or are deliberately being misleading, malicious and unpatriotic.
The stories allege that the authorities in St. Maarten confiscated over 105 new St. Kitts and Nevis’s passports being carried by citizens of the Dominican Republic, and that the St. Maarten authorities sent the passports to the authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Ministry of National Security wishes to inform the general public, that to date, the authorities in St. Maarten have not advised the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis of any incident surrounding passengers holding St. Kitts and Nevis passports or passports found. Further, the authorities in St. Maarten have not sent any confiscated passports to the authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis contrary to the media reports.
Our Security Chiefs contacted their counterparts in St. Maarten when these allegations surfaced. The St. Maarten authorities denied any knowledge of such happenings or any untoward development relating to our passports.
It is unfortunate that persons would circulate spurious information for likes and listenership, in a malicious attempt to undermine the functioning of a government department.
The Ministry of National Security remains undeterred in its efforts to ensure that passport processing procedures are highly reliable and in accordance with international best practices.